A Brother, A Shield
by Moonsetta
Summary: As Raph and Leo lay unconscious, Don and Mikey discuss the kind of protectors they are to them and their styles of protection. Later...GASP! The fighting between the two eldest, it was trick all along? O-O
1. Don & Mikey

This was a really random bout that popped into my head one day. I don't know why. Well, here it is.

I don't own TMNT.

* * *

A Brother, A Shield

Don sighed and glanced up from the book he was reading. They were all still asleep. The purple masked turtle placed a bookmark on the last page he was reading, closed the book with a resounding thud echoing around the room, set it down and walked over to the two cots in his lab where his older brothers were lying unconscious. He chose to look over Raph first, because Mikey was curled up at Leo's side which would make an examination difficult. Looking over all the wounds, Don began counting them like an employee would take inventory at a store. Raph had a swelled right wrist, three bruised ribs, 30 bandaged wounds, 10 of which had been from bullets, and a long, but thin scratch down his right arm. There hadn't been a mass of blood loss though, so the genius turtle was grateful for that. After the examination Don looked up at the sound of stirring, oh it was just Mikey waking up again.

The orange masked turtle sat up and got to his feet. He looked at Don with a question in his eyes.

"All of Raph's wounds have stopped bleeding," Don said with a slight smile.

Mikey slightly smiled back before climbing onto the cot beside Raph and curling up next to him, "And Leo?" Mikey mumbled.

"Just about to check him over," Don assured his younger brother before moving to his eldest brother's aside.

Mikey mumbled something else but was quickly asleep. The genius turtle smiled affectionately at his younger brother. Ever since they had managed to get Leo and Raph home and get them patched up the youngest turtle had been switching back and forth between them, sleeping by their side for a good hour before waking up and moving to the other's side, curling up next to them, like when he had nightmares. When Mikey started muttering random words in his sleep Don turned his attention to the team's leader. Leo, you would think, would be awake by now. He had sustained less injuries than Raph but their style of fighting also meant that the two eldest brothers had different styles of getting injured as well. Leo fought at a fair distance with his twin katanas, not allowing his enemy to get too close. He was also the most talented in nin-jutsu among all of them, so the attacks that hit him were bound to be few but also bound to be more accurate, more promising. Raph was rather the opposite, he fought at close range with his twin sai, he got hit more often that way but his fighting style was more fierce so the attacks that hit him were more random, less accurate.

Over all, you'd think Raph would be worse off with 35 wounds against Leo's only 15 wounds, but what it came down to was the injury itself. There was a difference between getting cut across your arm and then getting cut across your collarbone. Getting a bullet fired into your ribs was much worse than one in your arm. All in all, Leo had a long scratch across his collarbone, had four broken ribs from the two bullets fired into his rib cage, had a large gash on his side from a large knife, which caused a lot of mass blood loss, three bruises on each arm, a small crack on his plastron, a thick scratch near his temple and had had a dislocated shoulder before Don set it back. As the purple masked genius turtle ran a light finger over Leo's plastron he shivered, remembering that the crack had come from Hun.

Yes, they had been out fighting the Purple Dragons, since they couldn't find any trace of the Foot lately. As Don sat back down in the computer chair he had occupied for most of the night he thought back to that fight as Mikey woke up and switched back, curling up to Leo again.

"_Hey! Leave him alone!" Raph shouted, running forwards and tackling the nearest gang member that dared pull out a gun on his immediate younger brother._

"_Thanks Raph," Don said as he turned and knocked a line of purple dragons into the nearest brick wall._

"_Watch your back, brainiac!" Raph yelled as he charged for another gun aimed at Don, ultimately taking the bullets in his arms and legs as he dashed forward. _

Mikey shivered from his nightmare and glanced up at his eldest brother. He reached out attentively and lightly ran his fingertips over the crack in Leo's plastron.

"Mikey?" Don asked when he sensed the movement.

"He jumped right in front of me," Mikey murmured.

"Ye-yeah, he did," Don said uneasily, glancing at random spots on the floor.

"_Mikey!" Leo yelled and threw himself between Hun's swinging fist and his youngest brother, ultimately taking the hit._

_Leo fell back as Raph ran in and tackled Hun, knocking him against more purple dragons and into the nearest brick wall._

"_Leo!" Don shouted and kneeled down to look over the now visible crack in Leo's plastron that was rapidly growing crimson._

"_I'm fine," Leo said stubbornly and jumped to his feet to continue fighting._

"Those idiots," Don muttered as he stared at his older brothers.

They had both passed out during the battle. Leo had went down first, after his scream echoed out from his arm being dislocated by Hun. That made Raph very angry, of course, and he shot after Hun like a wild, starving cat after a mouse. The hothead went down next, after he punched Hun so hard in the head he managed to nearly break his wrist. His swelled wrist along with the bullets and blood loss he fought long enough to knock away any purple dragons trying to get to Leo and enough to ensure that Don and Mikey wouldn't be hurt.

"Don?" Mikey mumbled as he switched beds again, curling up at Raph's side.

"Yes Mikey?" Don said as he fought the sleep that wanted to cloud his mind.

"What do you think they're thinking about?"

"Well, right now Raph's probably thinking of tearing out Hun's throat and Leo's probably panicking since he doesn't know if we're ok."

"Well, yeah that's true, but I meant, what do you think they're thinking when they're protecting us? When they're our shields?"

"Shields?" Don asked and frowned in thought, well it was true, the two oldest protected the younger turtles making themselves shields if needed, "Well, I guess they just have very strong protective instincts."

"They're different though," Mikey insisted, "Their ways of protecting us."

"Huh?"

Mikey sat up before getting to his feet and standing in between their unconscious older brothers, "Well, Leo's more of a self-sacrificing shield while Raph's more like a," Mikey paused and let a soft smile spread across his face, "Speeding bullet interceptor."

"Hmm," Don mused, "Yeah, I think you're right Mikey. Leo's more likely to throw himself between the enemy and us, while Raph more likely to tackled the enemy head on."

A long paused followed, "Idiots," the younger turtles agreed and then turned to the sound of mumbling, it seems Raph was waking up.

* * *

Yeah, I was just noticing the different ways Raph and Leo were likely to protect their younger brothers.

Raph-Speeding bullet interceptor

Leo-Self sacrificing shield

This was so random. This time, I don't even want a review. But if you want to review, go ahead.

~Moonsetta


	2. Leo & Raph

I don't own TMNT.

* * *

"Need some help?" Don asked as he walked in his room to see Leo trying to get up, to train no doubt since it was 4:00am in the morning.

"Don, oh I thought you were still asleep," Leo said, glancing at the floor.

"Don't let your pride take a beating but no I'm not," the violet masked turtle said with slightly narrowed eyes.

"I was just going to the kitchen for a drink," Leo said sheepishly.

"Uh huh," the genius turtle said with a skeptical eye, "Right."

"I was!" Leo insisted.

Don raised an eye ridge at that.

"I was, honestly I mean, well, I was um…" Leo trailed off.

"Uh huh," Don said again, "Take a deep breath and come up with a good lie now."

Leo sighed and fell back onto his bed, "I give up."

"Thought so," Don said with a smile as walked towards Leo, "I told you no training for the next week."

Leo groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes, "Oh come on, you let Raph train today."

"His injuries are already healed, yours are more serious so it'll take another week until you can safely move around."

Leo groaned again and Don sighed, "Ok, look, rest three more days and I'll ok you enough to at least get into the dojo, not training in there though. You'll be able to watch the lessons but that is it. Ok?"

"I'm not going to get any better than that am I?"

"Nope."

Leo sighed, "Ok, I'll rest. So what's eating you?"

Don looked back at his eldest brother before he could climb up into his bed above Leo's, "Huh?"

"Something's bugging you," Leo said.

"It's nothing Leo, just a mathematical theory."

"Uh huh."

"It is!"

"Right," Leo said sarcastically and rolled his eyes towards the wall, "A mathematical theory, so which is it this time, Einstein's theory, Pythagorean theorem-"

"Leo?"

"Hmm?"

"Go to sleep."

Leo chuckled and turned on his side, to let his aching arm, the one he learned that had to be set once Hun dislocated it, rest on his side. He could still use it, it was just painful to use. The blue masked turtle smiled at the sound of shuffling above his head. All he had to do was wait and count down the time.

Ten minutes…

Five minutes…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One minute…

30 seconds…

And then

"Leo, are you asleep?"

"No," Leo said quietly, "What is it Don?"

He heard a gulp, "You're an idiot, both you and Raph."

"Yeah, you and Mikey have been telling us that for the past two weeks."

"It's true."

"Ok," Leo said with a shrug.

A minute of silence passed until Leo heard Don's blanket be thrown aside.

"I just don't get it Leo, why?" Don asked as he sat up in his bed.

Below, Leo sighed, "Don I've told you this before…"

"That OCD you two have is annoying and irritating," the genius said before sighing.

"Sorry," Leo said below.

The purple clad turtle scowled and then jumped off his top bunk, landing a few feet from the beds.

"Going somewhere?" Leo asked.

"Not really," the younger turtle said, walking to Leo's side and sitting on the floor while letting his head rest on his crossed arms the rested at Leo's side on the futon mattress.

The eldest smiled and asked, "So you want to tell me what it is now?"

"Well, I guess I might be able to stand this if it made more sense."

"What's there to make sense of?" Leo asked in confusion, "You guys were in trouble and Raph and I jumped to the rescue."

"You know how you protect us?" Don asked.

"How?" Leo asked while frowning in bewilderment, "Don, what's that have to do with anything? I just protect you all, I never think about it."

"Well, I do and so does Mikey."

"What?"

Don smiled, "Mikey said you're more of self sacrificing shield, while Raph's more of a speeding bullet interceptor."

"Well, I know Raph's like that," Leo said with a smile, "I've never really thought of myself though, it's really just a knee-jerk reaction, on instinct."

"But why protect us and give up everything if there's time for everyone to get out?"

"You can't always guarantee you're going to have the time, or if another enemy is going to pop up at the last second, if something goes wrong I want to be in the right place to stop it."

"What if you can't stop it?" Don asked, honestly just honestly curious now.

"I'll stop it or die trying," Leo said confidentially.

"That doesn't really sound good for you, at least when Raph charges the enemy head on, he's trying to get out alive as well."

"I just don't want to take a chance at being too late," Leo said, "So this is what's been bugging you?"

Don nodded with a hard frown on his face. The eldest smiled and lifted his good hand to rest on his younger brother's forehead.

"Don, I'm not going to stop protecting you all, but remember, you're talking to the turtle that's managed to live through and wake up from two comas in under four months."

"They should've never happened," Don said, glancing up and meeting Leo's eyes, "You're an idiot."

Leo smiled affectionately and then smirked when Don yawned.

"You better get to bed," Leo said.

"And who's going to keep you from getting out of bed and sneaking into the dojo to train the rest of the night and morning away?"

"Don I promise to rest for the next three days before setting foot in the dojo."

Don observed his older brother with a skeptical eye.

"I promise," Leo said and the intelligent turtle smiled back at him, "Ok, since you've never broken a promise."

Don got to his feet and climbed up into his bed again, fighting with his blanket for a seconds when it got stuck. As he finally buried his face in his pillow he muttered to the turtle below one last time.

"You're an idiot."

In the glow of light from one of Don's inventions, Leo smiled.

* * *

"Felling better bro?" Raph asked as Leo walked into the dojo three mornings later.

Leo opened his mouth to speak when Don's voice carried out from the doorway, "He will be watching the lesson but nothing more."

Don pointed to one of the benches set up at the side of the dojo and Leo sighed as he walked over and sat down with a frown.

"Come on Donny," Raph said, "Leo's been bed ridden for the past three weeks. Let the guy get up once in awhile."

"No training," Don said at Leo pointedly before turning and heading back to the kitchen

Raph scowled and shut the doors to the dojo before sighing, "Don's going to go crazy if he keeps this obsessive caretaker doctor act."

Leo smiled humorously, "And he says we're the ones with the OCD."

Raph rolled his eyes and smiled at Leo before drawing out his sais, "Practice?"

"Master Splinter has my swords," Leo said with a frown and glance at the floor.

Raph glanced around the room, nothing but weights and training mats stared back.

"Here," Raph said, tossing a sai to Leo.

It spiraled before Leo caught it with his good arm, "Thanks," he said as he climbed to his feet.

They sparred for a short few minutes, the sais both meeting with a clang, while their other hands were free to throw punches that they dodged. About ten minutes later they stopped and Leo tossed the sai back to his immediate younger brother, "Thanks Raph."

"Hey, I know how annoying it can get," Raph said with a slight smile.

"I'm glad you're ok," Raph said after another silent few seconds.

"The injuries aren't that serious," Leo insisted as he sat back down on the bench to catch his breath.

"It wasn't the injuries really," Raph said as he approached his punching bag, "I guess I just freaked when you screamed."

Leo raised a hand to rest on his opposite arm, the one that had been dislocated. A note to everyone out there, dislocations hurt, really, truly, hurt.

"Mikey says you're an idiot for jumping in front of him," Raph said as he started hitting his punching bag.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, let Hun hit him? If I did then he'd be the one that was unconscious for two days and couldn't breathe properly."

"Look," Raph said harshly, turning to glare at Leo, "It ain't any easier watching you go through it. All we needed was for you end up in another coma."

Leo smiled in a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood, "I'd say sorry, but-"

"It ain't good enough," Raph finished, turning back to his punching bag.

"You did tackle Hun after that though, that was pretty fearless of you," Leo said with a taunting smile.

"I fight better at close range, you know that, that's why I use sais, and don't say that, that's your name Fearless."

"Why do you tackle the enemy head on every time?" Leo asked.

Raph stepped back from his punching bag and walked over to join Leo on the bench across the room, "Gets me closer to them, then I can pound them ASAP and then get back to you guys."

"What if you don't get there in time?"

"I'm gonna get there in time, there's no debate about it, cause nothing is gonna happen. We'll walk out of it like always."

"We're not invincible," Leo reminded him.

"I didn't say we were, but you and I both know that we couldn't stand to lose either Don or Mikey and they couldn't stand to lose us. We'd willingly die for one another, it'd be a constant game of self sacrifice so nothing would get done. Death would probably get annoyed and leave us alone. I don't know, I guess I'd rather us all get out alive."

Leo handed a towel from a basket beside the bench to Raph and let a little pride show in his eyes. Raph saw the emotion and had to do a double take to make sure it was real.

Raph took the towel and wiped the sweat from his face, "What, that make you proud of me or something?"

"Yeah, something like that," Leo said with a humorous smile as he heard the distant clatter of dishes and silverware on their kitchen table in the kitchen.

"Going to breakfast?" Leo asked.

"Already ate," Raph said, looking back at his older brother, "You?"

"I already ate too, Don can't catch me every time I sneak out of the room."

The both mirrored the other's smirk.

"Idiots," the both mumbled.

"Oblivious idiots," Leo muttered after another few seconds of thought.

"Yep," Raph agreed, "So how long is Don keeping you off of training?"

"Another week," Leo said with a sigh.

"I'd go crazy," Raph muttered.

"You kind of already did," Leo reminded him, "There isn't a giant crack in the living room wall for nothing."

"Oh yeah," Raph said with a chuckle.

The door opened and there was a glaring purple masked turtle in the doorway, "Did I hear training in here?"

"That was me," Raph said, "Just warming up before practice Don. Don't worry, Fearless here hasn't moved."

Don narrowed his eyes and went back to the kitchen.

"Thanks again Raph," Leo said.

Raph sighed, "Whatever. Hey shouldn't we be arguing about something by now?"

"Ok, what do we argue about this time?" Leo asked.

"It's your turn to choose," Raph said.

"Hmm," Leo mused upon his thoughts, searching for the topic, "I'm running out of ideas lately, um how about if Spiders are bugs?"

"Ok," Raph said and stood up as the door opened and the rest of the family came in.

"Arachnid Raph, it's arachnid!" Leo said loudly.

"It's a freaking bug Fearless!"

"Eight legs Hothead, it's an arachnid!"

"It's a bug!"

Mikey shook his head, "I wondered when this was going to start."

"It was bound to happen in the next few minutes," Don said with a sigh as he moved to the center of the dojo half listening to the argument behind him.

"I don't care what you call it! Spiders are freaking bugs!"

"Arachnid Raph, get it through your big, thick skull before I have to beat in there!"

"Raphael! Leonardo!" Splinter yelled, "Stop this bickering this instant! Raphael join Michelangelo and Donatello. Rest Leonardo."

Later as they all filed out of the dojo Raph stopped by the bench to help Leo to his feet, "Can you believe it? They still actually think we mean it when we fight."

"Think they'll ever figure it out?" Leo asked with a sideways smile as he took Raph's offered hand and got pulled to his feet.

"Maybe," Raph said with a shrug, "I doubt it though, at least for awhile, we've managed to keep the act up for seven years and they haven't figured it out yet."

Outside the door Splinter smiled, "Oh I know my sons," he thought, "This charade will not last forever."

* * *

Ok, I wanted a really unusual ending and that's all I could think of at the time. Wouldn't it be weird if it turns out all that fighting was just a trick Leo and Raph were playing on everyone?

Ok, overall I just wanted a second and longer chapter to this story so. I'm happy you read it. If I got some reviews I'd be even happier.

Review please?

~Moonsetta


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